First blog

Technology is ever changing and upgrading faster than ever expected. According to the Horizon Report in February 2008,         the report found that there were six emerging technologies, which are: grass roots video, collaboration webs, collective intelligence, mobile broadband, social operating systems and data mashups.

 From a user perspective all these “new” technologies sound interestingly complex and new to me, although by reading more thouroughly into it i have started to use a few of these so called new technologies. The two most familiar technologies that i have been using lately are the mobile broadband and the social networking systems.

 Vodafone has now incorporated the internet with selected mobile phone plans called “Vodafone Live!”, where i can use the vodafone broadband system to access almost everything via the internet, and the extra charges will an additional amount m=on my bill.

Social netwroking has also been one of the most popular new technolgy intorduced for many people. Networks such as Facebook has millions of people connected to the site for personal and professional use. The advantage of facebook is that it is very easy to use, and you can find anyone anywhere in the world that has a facebook page!.

The significant trends with technology has impacted my learning experience in more ways than one. In this day and age people are able to access the internet virtually anywhere, and anytime. I am currently at the University of Technology Sydney, and they have used the internet as a improtant function to educate students and have used the internet to allow students to find information on courses, subject outlines and web discussions about FAQ to lecturers- UTS calls this system UTS online.

UTS also uses data mashup with its onine library database. Students can log into the uts system by providing the student id number and password, and log into the electronic library avaliable to students and staff. These two main aspects of technology have made my experience at University a much easier and effective way of learning. UTS online is easy to use and can be accessed basically anywhere that an internet is available.

By reviewing the key emerging technologies in 2007, i have noticed that i am already very fimilar with at least three of them, as i use social networks, mobile phone broadband and user created content on a day to day basis. In 2007 it was predicted that in 2-3 years that mobile broadband would launch, and this has amused me as a few months into 2008, i am already usind mobile broadband. Hence user created content and social networks seem like they have been around for years. Like i have mentioned before i am well aware and fimilar with a social network site called “facebook” and with user created content i am using it now to write this blog.

Like i have stated previously technology is everywhere, and it is inevitable that it is only going to get better and faster. I beleive that from a learning perspective technology has improved the experience of learners, making them want to learn more through a easy to use system that can be accessed absolutely anywhere around the world.